An officer corps appointed as parts of patronage networks is usually not very competent. The events in Iraqi remind me of incompetent patronage appointments in a galactic empire in some of the science fiction novels by Christopher Nuttall. The Terran Marine Corps in his novels has managed to escape patronage appointments and therefore is competent. But the Imperial Navy, Civil Guard, and other units are very incompetent and corrupt.

If ISIS could destabilize Saudi Arabia the world would go into a very deep recession as a result of sharply higher oil prices. It would be like 2008 and 2009 all over again. But this time southern Europe would be more heavily indebted going into the crisis. Sovereign debt defaults would make the recession much harder in many countries.

SA has been playing a dangerous game for a long time. I would not claim to know what our elite is thinking, but their Syrian machinations are buffoonery. Yeah, we should all hope that the jugglers don't drop those chain saws, but one would guess, it's not if, but when.